Costuming is an expensive hobby as far as hobbies go, and I’m not at that point in my life where I have much room in my budget, so I decided to make some foundations for my 1890’s day wear out of thrifted fabric. And that just happened to be sheets! Ahead you’ll find out the method to my sheet foundations, and some tips for working around price.
Sheets, as far as I’ve seen, are a lesser used thrift fabric compared to curtains (hello 18th c. print Ikea curtains). It just so happened that at the goodwill I visited to find fabric for a set of foundations (petticoat, bustle pad, and corset cover), there weren’t white curtains I was interested in, but there WERE sheets. I ended up with a fitted full sheet and a fitted twin sheet (though I only ended up using the full one) which cost me a grand total of $6.
Here are the main qualities you need to keep in mind with thrifted fabric, regardless of its original state:
Stretch. For the projects I was intending to use this for, I didn’t want any stretch at all (and no stretch is always the safer bet anyway, particularly for historical garments).
Color. This may seem obvious, but two shades of neutral colors are never the same, especially if you’re buying them used and they’re probably worn to different amounts. Even though the two I got were VERY similar, I still planned on using one for the petticoat and one for the corset cover and bustle pad.
Weight. When there are no tags or visible fiber contents or anything measurable, you’re going to have to go based on touch alone. I ended up with two medium weight sheets that were probably a cotton-poly blend and they worked with mixed results.
Prepping the Fabric
I started by washing both of the sheets, which you should do anyway with machine-washable fabrics before you use them, but especially so when they’re used/thrifted.
After that, I trimmed off all the elastic and cut the corners so I had a flat square piece with extensions off of each side. I ended up using the central square and one of the side rectangles for the petticoat, then the rest for both the corset cover and bustle pad.
The Petticoat
The petticoat was my top priority because I knew I needed one and it was also the piece that would take up the most yardage. First I planned how wide I wanted each tier to be.
Both the petticoat and corset cover are based approximately on this illustration. The most defining features I took from this were:
- gathers concentrating in the back
- drawstring waistband set on a yoke
- three tiers
All together pretty simple and easy to construct.
I chose to make the yoke three pieces instead of just one so I could angle the pieces out at the hips and cut down on any extra bulk at the waistline. Because sheet material is thicker than what you’d probably usually use, I knew I wanted to be careful of bulk in odd places.
After assembling the yoke, I turned over the top edge by a half inch, trimmed off the excess, then folded it over again to form the drawstring channel. I gathered the next layer with two lines of stitching, then sewed it onto the yoke and repeated the same step with the lower layer. The center back opening is turned over twice to hide the raw edge, and the hem is done the same way.
The final step was threading a white grosgrain ribbon through the drawstring channel and serging off the raw edges on the inside of the ruffles (not accurate, but I made this in one night and on a tight deadline). The serging not only finished the raw edges, but also cut down on bulk at the seams.
The Bustle Pad
The bustle pad was the only element I hadn’t originally decided to include, but really wanted to after doing some research. The bustle pad functioned as a transition between the larger bustles of the 1880’s and the S-bend style of the Edwardian era. Below are some extant examples from the mid-late 1890’s.
I traced the approximate pattern on my dress form and used leftovers of the full sheet to cut out my two pieces. After sewing the curved edges together, including grosgrain ribbons for the waistband in the seam allowance, I stitched the top about 3/4 of the way closed and used pillow batting to stuff it full. The opening I pinned together and whip stitched shut.
In retrospect, I probably made it a little too full and large, but I DO like the amount of volume it gives to the pleats at the back of the skirt. To finish it off, I stitched it down in five places, which helped flatten it out and keep its shape.
The Corset Cover
The shirt I have to wear with this ensemble is a sheer batiste, so right off the bat, I knew I needed a corset cover and was a little wary to drape one, just because I was low on time and my dress form is meant to fit me without a corset. Luckily it all turned out fine and was actually so easy to do that I ended up using the mock up as the final version. This took up the last of the full sheet, which meant I squeezed three whole projects out of it!
I did a bit of research for corset covers, but ended up following the picture of the corset cover with the petticoat above. It’s very simply draped, essentially a sloper with a high scoop neck, and front and back darts. Even though I had to resew the darts a few times, I’m satisfied with the overall product.
To finish it, I inserted a basic front placket for the buttons and enclosed the edges of the neckline, hem, and armscye with thin bias tape. The buttonholes are machine stitched, and the buttons are basic ones I had lying around. Nothing fancy and it serves its purpose well! One day I might add lace like in the reference picture, but today is not that day.
What to expect from working with a sheet:
Overall, I was pretty happy with how the sheet behaved and would probably use this method again. I made a few mistakes along the way, one of which was not securing the neckline and armscyes of the corset cover with a line of stitching before attaching the bias strips. It stretched out a little but that’s my only complaint about this. I would definitely make another petticoat out of a sheet, but I’m a little iffy on something more detailed and easier to screw up like the corset cover.
Weird things I didn’t expect:
- Surprisingly hard to hand sew. Even though the fabric was a light-medium weight and I was using a new needle, hand sewing with this was tough at times. Make sure you use a thimble or you’ll kill your fingers!
- Easily warped. Like I said with the neckline and armscye, anything cut on a bias ended up getting stretched out with general handling of the unfinished pieces. I definitely recommend sewing a stabilizing line of stitching along necklines and arms, just to be safe.
- Heat. I suspected it was a poly blend from the start, but wearing the finished garments were HOT and they didn’t breathe very well. All the more reason I’ll keep sheets for bottoms only. It also didn’t help that I wore them out in 90 degree weather, but there’s not much helping that here.
On the whole, I’m very happy with how this turned out and it only cost me $6 to make, which is even better! Do you have any money-saving tips that give good results? Share them know below!
*bonus*
Wreathed in Violets 